The Silent Column (Released) [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

A place for game announcements, and for people to discuss games being made.
Forum rules
Please read the sticky before creating a new topic. Linking to Kickstarter/Crowdfunded games requires a demo. Updates to Patreon-backed games may be posted once every 2 months. Adult content should not be posted in this forum.
Message
Author
User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#16 Post by SelLi »

Oh my... I've been here before. I go in circles, sometimes. Visual novels are long and I can't expect to make a unique image for every situation. Although that would be impressive, I'm not planning on making a manga or graphic novel. It would take a very long time... It's more reasonable to make more generic images. But I have trouble making generic images and, so, gravitate to making unique images. Oh my... Well... I do enjoy making artwork the way I've been making it recently. Maybe instead of making art like this for every situation, I'll just draw character portraits, background shots, and CGs this way.
A long time ago, I made a pre-alpha demo for the game, which has been taken down for a long time. I bring it up because, for the demo, I made character portraits and background shots as well as CGs. Each character portrait depicted a character on their own, abstract background, and the background shots were free to be whatever shots I wanted in a location. I may try to do something similar to what I did, back then. However, back then, each character only had one portrait and that was quite static. I think I'll draw a unique portrait for each emotion of each character. That may be fun.
I apologize for spit-balling and going in circles. It appears that things like this are still difficult for me - even after so many years - but I thought I'd share my thoughts.
There are some other things I'm unsure about right now but please take care, everyone. I am working on the project. :heart:

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#17 Post by SelLi »

By the way, right now I estimate the project will be about 185k words. 50k for each of the three heroines and 35k for the common route. I just finished writing the common route today, actually... and I mapped out things for each heroine. Mapping things out in 5k word chunks that are titled seems to help. :)

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#18 Post by SelLi »

Now, look at this cute little GUI:
Image
It's quaint in my opinion. The text is clearer in person. For some reason, when I take a screenshot on my computer, things upscale slightly, so when I scale it back to its proper size, things become slightly blurry. Since I know exactly how large things are supposed to be, it's a bit annoying, but anyway~ I just think this feels quaint, simple, and old fashioned, and I think it'll compliment the "one shot at a time" look I'm going for. I thought I'd share.

I've been feeling more like my old self, lately, which is nice, and I had fun making this border/textbox and coding things to get them right. It just looks... simple.
See you next time. :heart:

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#19 Post by SelLi »

Hi everyone, just made a picture of Serra and wanted to share. This is a neutral portrait:
Image
Take care, everyone. :heart:

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#20 Post by SelLi »

Serra is feeling thoughtful. :)
Image
I may refine these pictures a little bit more before releasing the Serra demo, but it's nice making them and growing a body of work.
I'm thinking I may do 11 pictures of Serra for this demo: 10 emotions and the CG picture of her laying in bed and looking at you.
Then there will also be other pictures to do, like some location shots and shots of some of the other characters, and I'll probably also make a few songs.
So far, I have 5 of the 11 pictures of Serra done at around this quality. I'll continue chipping away at the project as time goes on. ^^
Take care, everyone. :heart:

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#21 Post by SelLi »

Well, maybe I won't refine the art. It's kind of nice how messy it is.
I wanted to do another pic today so I did. ^^ This is Serra feeling... a certain way. I think she looks sweet. :heart:
Image
See you next time. :heart:

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#22 Post by SelLi »

Serra's happy. ^^
Image

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#23 Post by SelLi »

Serra's feeling happy sad. :heart:
Image

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#24 Post by SelLi »

Serra is resting. :heart:
Image

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#25 Post by SelLi »

Serra is happily crying. :heart:
Image

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#26 Post by SelLi »

Serra is feeling very happy. ^_^
Image

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#27 Post by SelLi »

Serra is resting in her flower field.
Image

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#28 Post by SelLi »

Hi there :) Made some edits to these pictures and thought I'd share. Have a nice day, everyone. :heart:
Image
Image

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#29 Post by SelLi »

Hi everyone. :) I don't have much to report to you but I want to share my thoughts.
Thank you for your patience with me... I'm sorry for going in circles. I know I have a tendency to go in circles but, each time I do, I feel like I'm doing the right thing. This sort of thing is tricky for me.
What I mean is... I've been thinking of doing traditional sprites and backgrounds again.
I'm also thinking of using a standard GUI and aspect ratio.
Most of why I was avoiding doing traditional sprites and opting instead to do unique character portraits for each emotion was because I found it... kind of difficult and upsetting drawing generic poses. Making unique character portraits for each emotion meant that I could express each emotion much more, and drawing those was a joy. ^^
However, drawing a unique picture for each expression of each character is a bit... silly. It's too heavy a workload.
I'm very used to ignoring what other people think and what seems to work for them and stubbornly doing whatever I think is good. And that can be good, but... it can also lead to things like this where I take on unreasonable work loads or go in an incorrect direction. I can just go easier on myself, give myself a lighter workload, and get projects done sooner. :) It's just... tricky. When I feel something should be done a certain way, I'm used to standing my ground and getting down to building, and part of why it's tricky is because that can sometimes be good.
I think I've learned something from doing these character portraits.
I've learned that I do prefer drawing artwork that expresses an emotion because I get to draw specific body language. However, on the practical side of things, it's silly to draw 20+ unique pictures for each character. I think I've figured out a solution.
After drawing a few portraits to express specific emotions, I can pick maybe three of those portraits to use as character poses. Then, I can polish them a bit, remove the backgrounds from them, and make copies of them that are faceless. I can then add different expressions to those faceless poses as needed. This should cut down a lot on work while still allowing me to draw expressive poses, because each of the poses would natively be expressing a specific emotion. :)
So, I think that should work.
As for the other two points - that I'm thinking of using a standard GUI/aspect ratio and am thinking of using standard backgrounds, those are tired to the use of standard sprites. It only makes sense to use the more square aspect ratio when displaying the square character portraits, and showing character sprites with transparent backgrounds rather than opaque backgrounds obviously requires that I draw more standard background locations for those sprites to appear against. If I want to have unique "shots" of a location or something within a location, I can always have that as an optional CG or object without character sprites appearing against it. (Also, since I've been focusing on drawing Serra so much, the only locations I have drawn were drawn as standard backgrounds, anyway. :) )

I don't really know what's wrong with me... sometimes I feel like I make things difficult on myself for no reason. I'm so used to feeling like... I don't want to be dissuaded from doing what's right. Because, if something is right to do, then I want to go in that direction even if it's difficult. But sometimes I feel like I'm blind and end up going in weird directions for no good reason at all... just based on my whims. Life is complicated... hey?

Take care, everyone. :heart:

By the way, I'm thinking of picking these three character portraits, polishing them, and turning them into Serra's poses. Maybe I'll end up choosing different ones, though. :)

Image
Image
Image

Once again, do take care, everyone. :heart: Life is crazy... it's important to take care. :heart:
See you next time.

User avatar
SelLi
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 4:49 pm
Completed: The Silent Column Demo, Memory Mage
Projects: The Silent Column, A Lily from the Lightless Water, A Castle on an Island
Deviantart: SelLillianna
itch: SelLillianna
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: The Silent Column [BxG, Supernatural, Romance, Mystery]

#30 Post by SelLi »

Hi everyone :) I wanted to share an update with you.
I've been editing the common route of The Silent Column (the common route for the whole project, that is) and I noticed that I really should add another scene to it, so I think I'll do that. Right now the common route is around 38k words and I don't expect the new scene to be more than 5k, so the common route will probably end up being something like 40-43k words. It was nice reading the common route and editing it a little bit.

I have been working on some sprites as well but I think I'll share them with you later when I can show you a bunch of them at once.

I also wanted to say that, after looking at the common route of the full game VS the Meeting Serra demo section, a lot of the characters would already need to be sprited for the Meeting Serra demo section. Throughout the common route of the full game you see:
Kina, Josephine, Amy, Thidria, Serra, Nithi, and April.
Whereas, in the Meeting Serra demo section, you see:
Kina, Josephine, Serra, Nithi, and April.
So, 5 of the 7 characters would need to be sprited for the smaller project. It's true that the full common route will have more assets than the Meeting Serra demo section, but right now I'm thinking that I should work on the entire common route rather than just the Serra section. I'd rather spend a little more time and effort to end up releasing a project with around quadruple the word count, if know what I mean. It's something I've been thinking about and I suppose I wanted to share my thoughts with you. I'd still want to release something free for you, though, so that will either mean that I'll release the Serra section for free, or release the entire common route for free. Right now, I'm leaning toward the latter.

Take care, everyone. <3

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users